I'm currently seasoning my new humidor with the Boveda seasoning pack. It is a small humidor. It's 9 days I am my hygrometer which is calibrated shows only 73%. Is it normal for the humidity level to rise that's slowly?
A lot of factors can contribute to how long it'll take. 9 days doesn't seem too long if you're only using the Boveda. The wood in the humidor will suck up a lot of moisture. If you want to hurry it up a bit don't be afraid to wipe it down on the inside with distilled water. Just dampen a paper towel, you won't hurt anything as long as you don't end up soaking the cedar.
I seasoned mine by putting a dish of distilled water in it and by wiping it down every couple days. Slow is the way to go though, better to get it seasoned well than to have it dry out a bunch of cigars.
To me 9 days seems like a long time. I generally use the seasoning wipes then it spikes into the 80's then takes about 4 days to get under 70 and settles a few days later around 65. But ninfictions tips are right on
I just wanted to pass this along for any other rookies that may have questions about seasoning their humidor with Boveda packs. I spoke with Boveda yesterday and they said that it is not unusual for the humidity level to rise that slowly and that the level probably wont reach the full 84%. They said that as long as I'm getting readings in the mid to high 70's consistently it's good to go. Thanks for all your advice guys.
QuoteChefjohn - 6/13/2018 6:06 PM
I'm currently seasoning my new humidor with the Boveda seasoning pack. It is a small humidor. It's 9 days I am my hygrometer which is calibrated shows only 73%. Is it normal for the humidity level to rise that's slowly?
Since you are using Boveda you should follow their suggestions.
Boveda Videos: How to Season a Humidor
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9OGvtMVklU&t=9s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBPa1rhXU_c&t=39s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMAhHNXpgrQ
Thanks for the info. I hadn't seen those videos. They answered a lot of questions.
I season the old fashioned way...wipe down the inside twice with distilled water, then leave a small bowl of distilled water in the humidor for two weeks. I've never had an issue doing it this way. Takes patience, but why hurry?...have a cigar and let go... :biggrin:
Thank you. Sounds like very sound advice. I was given another humidor that hold approx 100 by a friend and I'm going to try that method with that one.
I have used the wipe down method on smaller humidors (with a small amount of distilled water) with dish of distilled water or you normal humidifier previously. It still takes time to get the humidor to stabilize before you introduce cigars to the humidor. If you have a large amount of cigars, it is best to put them in gradually until you have them all in their new home.
Patience is a virtue, the whole process may take several weeks before the humidor and cigars stabilize to a controlled RH. The other issue is getting it to an RH you prefer, some like 70 %, I do not. I prefer 65% RH, less burn problems and a more enjoyable cigar IMO
But what do I know, this Liga Privada #9 I am smoking is on point!
Thanks Don. Right now I only have about a dozen and a half so I don't think it will be an issue.
Does anyone else find it funny that our new resident chef is asking a "seasoning" question? :biggrin:
Go with Lemon Pepper.
QuoteBrlesq - 6/15/2018 7:50 PM Does anyone else find it funny that our new resident chef is asking a "seasoning" question? :biggrin: Go with Lemon Pepper.
:biggrin: a little habanero. kick it up notch! as the saying goes...
QuoteBrlesq - 6/15/2018 7:50 PM
Does anyone else find it funny that our new resident chef is asking a "seasoning" question? :biggrin:
Go with Lemon Pepper.
It is kind of ironic.
Well it's been 5 days since I loaded my humidor and with 2 Boveda 69% packs on the bottom it's holding steady at 66%. A friend of ours also gave me a humidor he is not using. It holds around 100 he said so probably 75 (see I'm already learning from you guys).
I just started seasoning a new 300 count humidor. There is a lot of wood in there to season. It's been 2 days and it's up to 70% inside, just using a dish of distilled water. I want to see it get up around 85% for a few days before I remove the dish, I'm full expecting it to take 7-10 days easily.
This is the biggest humidor I've ever had, most of my stuff is in tupperdors but I wanted something nice for my office.
QuoteSilverstix - 6/22/2018 9:29 AM
I just started seasoning a new 300 count humidor. There is a lot of wood in there to season. It's been 2 days and it's up to 70% inside, just using a dish of distilled water. I want to see it get up around 85% for a few days before I remove the dish, I'm full expecting it to take 7-10 days easily.
This is the biggest humidor I've ever had, most of my stuff is in tupperdors but I wanted something nice for my office.
This next one i'm Going to try going the bowl of distilled water route to season it. I'm pretty pleased so far with the results I'm getting for my first effort.
QuoteChefjohn - 6/22/2018 6:42 AM
Well it's been 5 days since I loaded my humidor and with 2 Boveda 69% packs on the bottom it's holding steady at 66%. A friend of ours also gave me a humidor he is not using. It holds around 100 he said so probably 75 (see I'm already learning from you guys).
Assuming you have a wood humidor you are seasoning, a 100 count box, you need to use 4 of the 60 gram Boveda packs. Using 69% RH packs will not get the wood to saturation. It has to be higher. Boveda recommends using 84% packs. Throw them in the humidor, close the lid and don't open it again for 14 days. After 14 days, replace the 84% packs with the RH of your choice and pack in the cigars. then shut the lid and open to get a cigar to smoke. Get a remote Hygrometer so you never have to open the lid to check on temp or RH level.
It is not uncommon to have the internal RH level read below the package. The reason? You have a wood humidor and the wood gives up some of the stored moisture to the outside space it resides in. If you use 69% Boveda packs and the remote sensor reads way off, you either need to calibrate your hygrometer or put in more 69% packs or replace the 69% packs with 72% packs.
Living in MN, during the winter months, I have to use 72% packs to keep the RH above 65%. The rest of the year I use 69% packs to maintain an RH between 66% and 69%. I keep 2 (a pair), 320 gram packs in my wood humidor at all times. It is way over what I need but you can't over or under humidify with Boveda. My packs last longer and the humidity recovery time is very fast.
At the moment, the RH in my humidor is 68.1%. I have 640 grams of Boveda in it. the equivalent of almost 11, 60 gram packs.